Friday, November 09, 2012

The resignation of Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus over an extramarital affair reminds us of some of the many dangerous consequences of marital infidelity. Espionage 101 teaches that sexual temptation is one of the most important tools for an enemy seeking access to information. What a ridiculous shame that our nation's top security man fell into that old trap. His email was being accessed by his extramarital lover or someone close to her. This kind of thing can do more than undermine a marriage and destroy a career. Many lives can be lost and great harm to an entire nation can occur when those trusted with its defense and its secrets allow enemies in the back door due to their lack of self-control in the face of sexual temptation. Petraeus probably did not intend for this to happen when he chose to cheat on his wife, but through the betrayal of his marriage vows, he has betrayed all of us and may have put some lives in direct jeopardy.

Unfortunately, it's not just CIA chiefs, generals, and politicians who are targeted. Each of us has an enemy who seeks to destroy us and our happiness. Destroying our character, our trustworthiness, our marriage, and our family relationships is a top priority for this character, and immorality is one of his most powerful tools, especially when coupled with human pride and vanity. Thanks to the flood of immorality available on the Internet and through the lucrative entertainment industry, his ability to snag us is greater than ever, and constant, prayerful vigilance is needed for us to remain free and stay true to our most sacred commitments and covenants.

Marriage matters. Trust matters. Loyalty matters, whether it is to our country or our spouse and children. Infidelity undermines all of that. The selfish pursuit of pleasure makes us less, and less trustworthy, less dependable, less able to serve and make a positive difference in the world.

May we each repent swiftly of whatever is moving us or threatens to move us from the trust of our spouse and children, and, for some, from the trust of a nation, and may we return more fully to God and stay clean from the growing sins of this world. May we also demand more from those we ask to serve their nation and recognize that character is not just a private matter but one of public importance. Fidelity, after all, truly matters.

8 comments:

Anonymous
said...

The woman the affair was with is an American, Paula Broadwell, not an obvious candidate as a Soviet spy or anything. See http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/09/petraeus-other-woman-a-married-mother-of-two-under-fbi-investigation/

But Espionage 101 is also not being obvious. It is certainly possible that she was just acting on her own, or also that she had accepted some large payment from a third party to pass on info or emails. In the world of espionage, much crazier things can happen. She herself was married and thus vulnerable to exposure, and thus able to be influenced by other agents aware of the affair. Don't rule these things out. Hope there will be a detailed investigation --one that includes asking questions like, "What really happened at Benghazi?" Oops, my bad. We don't talk about that, do we?

Can't they bring him in to testify even if he's resigned? I agree that it's time for at least one journalist to et back to work now that their campaign mission has been accomplished and ask a few questions about Benghazi. My concern is especially intense since some really great people I know are State Department officials overseas who one day could face similar challenges, and I don't want any of them or their colleagues to be abandoned so recklessly as appears to have happened in Benghazi.

A watchdog group needs to be appointed over these top people because they can't govern themselves. Another general was stripped of a star for using government money for personal extravagant use.They are the top and answer to no one. The Petreus biographer should never have happened, especially during a war, and being embedded with Petreus. No pun intended.People are more upset about a Mormon possibly being President of the U.S. but no outcry over stuff like this. Congress also needs a watchdog group. Petreus can be brought to testify but he can plead the fifth also.Bush was warned about bin Laden but blew it off, yet he had anti-aircraft on the residence he stayed in while in Florida when the terrorists attacked us. What did he know? That's right, Bush is a Republican so we don't talk about it because he could do no wrong.